"Linux has proven amazingly flexible: after nearly 10 years of use, I'm still impressed by how the Linux operating system does exactly what I want on any type of hardware. Desktop customization is no exception; from the ultra-modern KDE and GNOME window managers to with the likes of Fluxbox and AfterStep, there's a Linux desktop to suit everyone."

As someone who speaks an Asian Language, I really do not find these to be true alternatives. They have have not adopted to rendering proper Unicode characters in most cases they do not at all. Most of the non-Latin script world will stick to Gtk/Qt derived environments (Gnome/KDE/XFCE) simply for this. I have used these other environments but cannot get out until there is support for this.

So true. Example: my native language has only a handful of extended characters and still it bugs me that a window manager such as Blackbox has a problem updating window titles that contain such characters. It's a great little window manager and this is not enough to stop me from using it, but it sure bugs me. I can imagine the frustration for someone whose language would cause constant problems like this.

Oh, and just to address the claim in the article: Blackbox didn't "stagnate". It has come so close to what it proposed to do that further development is not needed. (Too bad it's not considered interesting to also fix whatever bugs are left in, like the one above, though.) Blackbox and Fluxbox have different goals.